Civilizations and Cultures

Abstract

This chapter investigates the origins and the evolutions of ancient civilizations of the world. In order to answer why ancient civilizations are only associated with the rivers of the Euphrates, the Tigris, the Nile, the Indus, and the Yellow instead of the others, a challenge-and-response model of cultural development is founded, and the relationship between different natural disasters (threats) and the developments of ancient civilizations is examined. My discussion takes into account of the world’s major primary civilizations and concludes that rivers and their cyclic nature of annual floods, not the other natural and environmental forces, were a greater catalyst to the birth of the oldest civilizations in the world. This chapter also answers questions such as why existing cultures are conflicting and also complementary.

Keywords

Natural Disaster River Valley Lower Reach Culture Area Chinese History